Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Look, I'm no minarchist...

...and it's been some years since I "played one on TV". As the old saw goes, at some point I ran out of excuses.

Still, I cannot deny that I'd nonetheless like things a whole lot more than they are now, with more people like Kit Lange running around. Consider the open letter to the Washington state governor that she posted yesterday:

What is our crime? The exercise of rights protected—not granted—by
the WA State Constitution and that of the United States of America. The
exercise of rights you promised to uphold when you took office. We
dare to speak of liberty, we dare to stand against tyranny, and now we
are being threatened with the same fate that Anthony has already
undergone once.

We, the patriots of Washington, appeal to you now. We want no
fight. We want no conflict. We wish to be left alone in peace, to
raise our families and live in liberty. We ask that you stand with us
and stop this violation of our rights, as is your duty. Under no
circumstances do we seek violence, nor will we start violence. We are
not, in any way, “anti-government” as the SPLC claims. We simply demand
that the government adhere to its Constitutional limits, protecting and
maintaining the rights of the governed.

Please understand this: We will not comply with these continued
infringements. We will no longer be controlled and have our rights
violated. There is no more compromise. If an inch of liberty is taken
from us, we will take back a mile. Because of this, we face
persecution, arrest, and even death.

You can stop this from happening. It is your job to stop this from happening, by upholding your oath to the Constitution.

The very word "patriot", any more, just makes my teeth grind, and of course I would argue that being "anti-government" should be the quintessential American mindset, not a derogatory epithet that we concede to authoritarians in our very speech. And then there's the whole tilting-at-windmills thing with approaching Master to ask Master to restrain Master from abusing the plebes.

Still, there is a lot of good in this. It speaks plainly, declaratively, and reads like the double-dog-dare that it should be. And, to quote David, cum ulla sella in pugno taberna. Indeed.

And Lange has been consistent and eloquent in this, from what I've seen of her thus far.

Yeah, I'm with what you said in spirit. In practice, if there really were a government (any government!) that actually abided by the limits of its own constitution I'd probably go along and raise no serious objections. They always sound so nice when you read them, don't they? And they're always such bullshit, because there's no politician who doesn't dream of being a ruler.

"Most who want "rulers," also want them to rule everyone and everything."

Oh, I don't know. Or if they want it, maybe they don't want it very much, and can easily do without.

Anyway it's hard to know what motivates others; there's a lot of conjecture involved. But think about religion. We don't much have Catholics wishing Lutherans were Catholics any more, or even wishing atheists were Catholics.

I'm not anti-government per se. I don't care how much government other people have for themselves. I'm just against government for me.

"I don't care how much government other people have for themselves. I'm just against government for me."

I don't care either, Paul. But my life experience - nearly 70 years - is that there aren't many people who share that idea. I have not found many who are truly willing to leave me out of whatever government they choose.

Even though I really like and appreciate much of the attitude here, I have no doubt that not a soul would stand in my defense if I were to be unable, or especially if I was unwilling, to pay the "property tax." They would consider it only right and proper for my house to be sold to pay it... however sympathetic they might be otherwise. I can't see them taking up a collection to help me, especially if I simply refused. Just an example...

I don't know anyone here who doesn't think the "war on drugs" is very necessary, and a legitimate function of their government. And I could mention at least a dozen other examples.